United we stand, divided we fall
by PeachyMintySkies
Summary: BelgianChoco entered a world of Hardcore on a quest to slay the Enderdragon. AzraelSkye's quest was simpler- finding diamonds. When both of them meet and decide to join forces, they embark on a journey that brings along plenty of friendships and companions along the way. Little did they know that they'll fall in love with each other under the most unexpected circumstances. R&R pls
1. Chapter 1: Encountering

**Hello readers! *bows***  
**My first ever fanfiction is based on... Minecraft.**

**XD I know that it is much wiser to start on top animes like Inuyasha or CCS, but I wanted to start on something that I have been more acquainted with these days. Like Minecraft.**

**I'll need to rewatch a bit of CCS on my next Fanfiction if this gets out successful. XD**

**Well, read and review please! I'd really appreciate some feedback.**

**PM me if you require any assistance like proof-reading or ideas. I'd be glad to help. :D**  
**In this story, I shall go by my Minecraft name. XD**

**Any resemblences of any other Minecraft names that are mentioned to real life players are purely coincidental.**

Chapter 1: Encountering.

Mode: Hardcore

Location: **Jungle biome**

Time: **Morning**

It was dawn. The square-shaped sun started rising from the distance. Skeletons and zombies gazed at the rising sun, knowing that their time has come to burn to death, started to scuttling around for shelter and water. The successful ones remain alive and wander around the dark recesses of the caves. The not-so-successful ones... well, burn to death. The cows plodded over the grass patches with the chickens and pigs, grazing in ignorance of the all burning monsters around them. Before long, this peaceful place was about to have some company...

The branches crunched under the weight of a girl in a Babydoll (from Suckerpunch) outfit. BelgianChoco, her name, was written in a bubble above her head. She cleared the branches out of the way and walked out. She looked around and frowned. Huge trees with thick trunks loomed far above her. A few trees away, she could see a couple of cocoa pods growing on the tree trunks. "Hmm, so I'm alone here." She thought.

belgianchoco decided to start setting up her base. She pondered over the jungle around her... and decided to explore. She bounded excitedly from tree to tree, punching out wood from the thick tree trunks. She ran through her mind as she explored about the things she decided to do on this journey. For a long while, she had heard about many stories of the Enderdragon and on how many adventurers have died on their way there. Out of sheer curiosity and a desire for a sense of adventure, she decided to embark on this journey on her own. She wondered, though, if she'll make it out alive too. Because she knows that if she dies, she is dead. Forever. "Oh well. I'll make it through somehow," she thought happily. She stepped through a clearing and found a sandy beach. She smiled wryly and started setting up her base- underwater.

Location: **Desert biome**

Time: **Afternoon**

A blue-haired AzraelSkye looked up from the ground he walked upon. The sun was already overhead, casting heated rays at him with every step he makes. He groaned at his luck on spawning in the desert. All that he had for company were dry branches, cacti and more sand. He was only glad that his blue ninja costume was not too thick, making the heat slightly more bearable. He wandered around with a small sense of despair at the lack of wood until he spotted a jungle biome somewhere in the distance. "Wood!" he thought and started sprinting towards it. He ran out of the desert, passing by the flatlands where cows mooed he passed them by. He finally reached the jungle and started climbing up the trees, punching them back down to the ground for wood. He was decided on setting up a treehouse.

Location: **Underwater base outside Jungle Biome**

Time: **Late afternoon**

On the other side of the jungle, BelgianChoco happily jumped back down to her underwater base. She had expanded her base to include her essentials- a crafting table, a chest and a furnace. The walls and the ground were all made out of stone, of course. She had decided that she would dig downwards from her base in an attempt to find lava and diamonds. So that she can mine some obsidian for the nether. But, she was not about to make herself do all that mining work while she was hungry. That was why she spent the entire afternoon sprinting and jumping through the jungle in search of animals. She encountered quite a number of pigs near her base and managed to slay some cows in the flatlands on the other side of the jungle. She went ahead with knocking off ripe cocoa pods for seeds and took some seeds from the grass patches in the flatlands. "Now, I can make my own cookies!" she thought happily as she grew several cocoa pods on the jungle tree trunk that is nearest to her home. She then proceeded back down to her base with several dirt blocks and her seeds. It was time to grow some wheat.

Location: **Deep in the jungle**

Time: **Night**

AzraelSkye gazed out of the treehouse way above the ground. He was in a dilemma. Firstly, he was stuck with items made out of wood alone. Like a wooden sword. He had absolutely no idea if he can survive a whole night of skeletons and creepers wandering around. Secondly, he had been so busy building up on his base that he had not looked around the jungle for food. Not that cocoa beans were exactly edible in the first place. He looked at his hunger bar, which was indicated on his arm. He was half hungry."Well. Staying in this treehouse is not going to help anything. I need to go out and kill zombies so that I can at least eat something," he thought. He bravely crawled down the tree trunks, making a mental note of the route that he took to hop down. Finally, he reached the ground and looked up. He was ready to kill.

BelgianChoco stepped out of her base very timidly. She had with her a stone sword, two pieces of cooked pork chop and about twenty-five torches. She looked around the beach uncertainly. She did not care that she had a stone sword with her- the thought of venturing into the jungle alone and unprotected made her feel slightly afraid. She gulped her fears down and trudged feebly into the dark jungle. She held her sword, watching out for sudden movements in the jungle.

"Urrrr... Urrrrr..."

BelgianChoco cringed at the sound. "Zombies..." she looked frantically around. "Where are they?!" she muttered, clearly stricken with fear. She could hear several zombies groaning at the same time, but she could not make out where they were. She hopped carefully from tree to tree, hiding behind any tree trunk she could find. Suddenly, an arrow narrowly missed her and hit the tree trunk she was leaning against. Her eyes widened with horror. Before she knew what was happening, a sharp acute pain shot through her right arm. She looked frantically around and found a skeleton shooting at her from a clearing some distance away to her right. Instinctively, she ran away quickly before she could take anymore damage. When she finally got away, she leaned against a tree and decided to take a short break. But little did she know, a certain green-coloured monster had crept up behind the tree trunk.

"Tsssssss..."

An explosion broke out in the jungle. AzraelSkye jumped in shock as he heard the explosion. He looked around him, relieved that a creeper was not behind him. He sighed and walked around.

"Wait a minute," he thought, "if a creeper could blow up.. then it means that I'm not alone! There is someone else playing in this world!" he started running around quickly, searching for the creeper's target, praying that the other player had not died yet.

As a matter of fact, BelgianChoco was not dead. The moment she had heard the creeper hiss she back off and started whacking at it with her sword. It was however, a little too late and the creeper blew up, blasting the ground near her to blocks of dirt. She sighed, collected all of the dirt blocks and went on her way, leaving occasional torches around so she was aware she had explored that area. Suddenly, she heard the sound of skeletons shooting away. She knew that was her cue to run. She immediately traced her torch trails and ran away.

AzraelSkye, in the meantime, was trying to escape a horde of skeletons shooting furiously at him for no particular reason. He winced as three arrows made piercings on his back and ran wildly around in the forest. Suddenly, he caught sight of a torch trail. "So there IS someone else here!" he thought. He ran out, following the torch trail. Judging from several explosions heard ahead, of him, he knew he was in for some human company soon.

BelgianChoco was regretting going into the deep, dark jungle. Especially when creepers simply appear out of nowhere and decided to give you a hug. She had unsuccessfully angered two creepers into blowing up, effectively creating two large holes of dirt and branches in the jungle ground. She sighed at her incapability to deal with creepers and ran ahead. Suddenly, she heard fast footsteps crunching the dirt along with her. Her eyes widened as she remembered someone telling her about something- the Herobrine. She cringed inwardly in fear at the thought of the Herobrine story. The Herobrine had apparently been famous for obstructing the players' gameplay by griefing them, building up blocks to block their path as well as other forms of terror. She decided to one thing that no one ever did- actually killing off the Herobrine. When she neared her base she turned around and prepared to kill her stalker off...and stopped when she saw that it was a blue-haired man in a navy blue ninja suit. "AzraelSkye" was written above him.

And both of them realised.. They had not been alone from the beginning.

**Thanks so much for reading my first ever fanfiction! Please please PLEASE read and review! I would like to know how you guys find the story and how I can improve on it.**

**Thanks you for your reviews in advance. (:**

**xoxoxoxo**

**PeachyMintySkies **


	2. Chapter 2: Teaming up

**Hey guys! No reviews received, so I was a tad bit lost as to how the first chapter went. ._.**

**So, here's another shot at the story. I hereby present chapter 2! ^^**

BelgianChoco stared at the human standing before her. Blue hair and a matching navy blue ninja suit. Soft, grey eyes. And then she frowned when the skeletons and creepers emerged from the forest after them.

"Hide in here! Quick!" she commanded and jumped in straight into the water, swimming to the door to her base.

AzraelSkye followed after her and swam quickly through the wooden door.

They were finally safe from the treacherous night.

AzraelSkye looked around at the base he had just entered. It was well stocked with the bare necessities. He even managed to find some food in the chest. BelgianChoco looked at him with concern. "Are you okay?" , she asked, "You have like five arrows stuck on your back."

"And you have one sticking out of your arm and another on your back," AzraelSkye smiled, and then continued, "I'm fine though. Just a little hungry."

BelgianChoco's eyes widened. "You didn't get any food earlier on yesterday? Give me a moment. I'll bring you some pork chops." She ran quickly over to the chest to grab some food.

AzraelSkye looked around the base. He had to admit that BelgianChoco was very clever in selecting an underwater base. Firstly, it was the safest place away from the monsters. Secondly, she has a ready supply of water right at her doorstep, and so growing wheat within her base was not a problem. Thirdly, she is several blocks underground already and she can easily dig for minerals and coal. In there she was practically self-sufficient in terms of food, water and mining space. AzraelSkye wondered why he never thought of setting up an underwater base like this before. "Why didn't I think of this before..." he muttered.

"Think of what before?" AzraelSkye jumped and turned to see that BelgianChoco had already arrived with his food.

"Oh, nothing. I just thought of my own base up in the trees and I wondered why didn't I think of going underwater." he told her.

BelgianChoco giggled at him. "A treehouse up in the jungle is not too bad, you know. Monsters cannot climb," she commented.

AzraelSkye smiled wryly at her. "You have not met the skeletons that were following after me. They hopped their way around the trees." BelgianChoco nodded and sat down in the corner of the base. Silence filled the base as both of them knew that they were still strangers. BelgianChoco decided to break the silence.

"So," she enquired, "why are you here? What kind of a quest are you on? Are you fighting the Enderdragon or..?"

"No," AzraelSkye replied, "I'm actually just looking around for diamonds, hoping to trade them for some gold nuggets. Those are good for brewing and all, you know. What about you? You are actually thinking of slaying the Enderdragon?"

BelgianChoco nodded and smiled up at the ceiling. "I suppose we do have different quests in this world," she sighed and continued, "and finding other players in here seems to be rare too..."

AzraelSkye suddenly had a thought and narrowed his eyes at her. "Just how much do you know about your quest for the Enderdragon? "

Twirling a long blonde lock of hair, she pondered. " I know that the Enderdragon lives in The End, and that I need to shoot at some sort of crystal to kill it.. Oh, and that I need to kill Endermen. "

AzraelSkye gave a sigh of exasperation. "You need to remember that the Enderdragon is one creature you cannot afford to mess with. It's movements are very unpredictable and it's easy to die there. You need the best armour possible to survive the journey and the battle. "

BelgianChoco nodded. AzraelSkye chuckled, continuing "And, the best armour is made of... diamonds. "

Giving him a playful shove, she stood up to get more food. "You're not just looking for miners to do all the work, are you?" she asked jokingly.

AzraelSkye smirked. "That sounds like a good idea. Should I make you my slave?" BelgianChoco laughed, whacking him on the shoulder with a piece of steak.

AzraelSkye continued, "But seriously, do you know how to get to the End?"

BelgianChoco shook her head. "No, but I think we might be able to find a village sooner or later and we might be able to ask."

AzraelSkye leaned against the wall. "I wonder if there are other players like us out there."

BelgianChoco breathed out a sigh, pondering over his question. She looked at AzraelSkye for a moment, taking in his azure blue hair and his alluring grey eyes. She wondered if he had any family members, and if his brothers or sisters had the same grey eyes as him. She shook her head abruptly. "Why am I even thinking about that?" With a deep breath, she held out her hand towards him. "Let's cooperate then. For diamonds and the Enderdragon." AzraelSkye nodded and shook her hand.

With that, the two had finally formed a team.

They laid on the floor in separate corners of the room to rest. She drifted to sleep easily, exhausted from creeper encounters and arrows. AzraelSkye turned over from his corner and gazed at BelgianChoco as she slept, her soft blonde locks tumbling past her shoulders onto the cobblestone floor. He caught a trace of a soft blush on her fair, porcelain skin. He smiled gently at the sleeping beauty. The cobblestone floor was getting very cold. Puzzled, he gazed up at the glass window above him and caught sight of fluttering snowflakes.

"It's snowing, " he thought. He took off his cape and scooted silently over to her. He silently draped the cape over her body and walked over to the chest to look for fuel to use the furnace. A small smile lit his face as he took out a piece of coal and some wood. He threw them into the furnace and watched it catch fire, the warmth enveloping him. He lay a distance away from the furnace and drifted off to sleep.

**Thanks for reading! Please please please please PLEEEEAAAASE write me a review so that I know what i can add to the story. I see the potential in the storyline but I'm quite low on ideas. ._.**


	3. Chapter 3: Falling down the ravine hole

**Hey ****guys****! ****I****'****m ****typing ****this ****through ****a ****haze ****that ****is ****smoking ****its ****way ****through ****sunny ****Singapore****. ****Forest ****fires ****from ****our ****neighbours ****are****accompanied ****by ****rather ****hot ****weather ****these ****days****. ****I ****might ****be ****getting ****a ****slight ****headache****. ._.**

**Just ****want ****to ****say ****thanks ****to ****all ****of ****my f****ollowers****. ****I****'****ll ****do ****my ****best ****to ****make ****this ****a s****uccess****! *****fist****pump ****in ****the ****air*******

**ShadowShinigamiWolf****: ****Thanks ****for ****the ****review****! ****Glad ****that ****you ****like ****the ****story ****so ****far****. ****Hopefully****, ****as ****the ****story ****progresses ****it ****would ****be ****more ****interesting****. :****B**

BelgianChoco stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes. The room seemed to be much brighter than it had been hours before, signalling to her that it was dawn. She sat up and looked around. AzraelSkye was not around. She looked down at the midnight blue cape on her lap. "This.. is AzraelSkye's..." She stood up and ran out of the base, swimming up to the surface to find her companion. The coast had been coated with traces of snow. "It snowed last night? Oh.. so that's why..."

"Belle! Over here!" a voice called.

BelgianChoco's eyes widened. "Bell? Who is Bell? Or is there a bell somewhere?" she turned to the direction of the voice and there Azrael sat- upon the sandy coast, fishing. BelgianChoco trudged upon the sand, the midnight blue cape in her arms. The wind blew strongly upon her soft, blonde locks as she walked towards him with a smile on her face.

"I had no idea it snowed last night. Thanks for loaning me your coat. You must have been very cold.." she spoke handing him the cape that he had draped over her the night before. AzraelSkye smiled.

"Keep it in the chest. I'll take it when I need it. For now," he gave her five fishes and continued, "cook these for me please, Belle?"

BelgianChoco's eyes widened at the name. "Belle? That's your nickname for me?"

AzraelSkye nodded. "Our usernames are pretty long, aren't they? So why not shorten it? Just call me Azrael."

Reader's note: Sorry for the interruption. Right now I'll refer to the characters by their nicknames. Alright, continue~

Belle felt a bit uncertain at the sudden informality, but decided that it would be good to call her companion using shorter names. She went back to the base.

"Careful, Belle!" Azrael called out to her with a smirk on his face, "don't let those fishes swim away! I spent HOURS catching those!"

Belle sighed and looked at Azrael. "Sure, but I'm going to have to use your cape to wrap them." Without waiting for his approval, she wrapped the five squirming fishes in the cape and dived back to base.

Azrael sighed. His cape was definitely going to smell. He looked back at the fishing bob, watching out for fishes.

Belle threw the fishes into the furnace to cook. While waiting, she sat by the furnace and pondered over their missions. What they needed were diamonds. The problem at the moment would be finding a place to start digging. "If my geographical knowledge does not fail me," she muttered, "I can find precious minerals near lava pools... I'll just try my luck in the corner there." She took out a barbecued fish and a pickaxe. She headed to the corner of the base, ready to start.

Azrael finally returned to base just as the sun set in the horizon. He looked around, puzzled. "Belle? Where are you?" he called anxiously. He finally saw a wooden door, in the corner of the room. He stepped through the door, only to find Belle knocking at rocks at the bottom of a huge, spiral staircase. Belle looked up at him, her twinkling eyes complementing her smile.

"I'm digging down. Hope it's my lucky strike," she replied, then continued digging. Azrael took out stacks of cobblestone that Belle had deposited and proceeded to build a wall around the staircase, ensuring that none of them would fall. The hours went by slowly, with the two of them periodically switching duties of cooking fishes, building up the walls and mining downwards. Late into the night, Azrael stepped down to switch duties with Belle, but found her lying at the foot of the steps, her hazel eyes now shut and her hands loosely clutching her worn pickaxe. With a small smile upon his face, he cradled her softly in his arms and trudged up the tall winding steps, the torches they had made lighting his way up. He laid her sleeping form near the burning furnace to keep her warm and lay on the other side of the room, gazing at her shut eyes and her silky blonde hair that formed a halo around her head. "Such an angel..." he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Belle's eyes fluttered open as faint light streamed in from the window. It was dawn. She sat up and looked around. She was back at the base. "Strange," she thought, "I clearly remembered sitting by the foot of the steps, taking a break..." She stood up and saw Azrael sleeping in the other side of the room. She then realised that he had carried her up. She blushed slightly at the thought. She took out his cape that she had hung to dry and draped it lightly over him. She then took up her pickaxe, some fish and went back to work.

When he awoke, the corner where Belle had slept was empty. It seemed that the ever-hardworking miner is back at work. He went down the steps to greet her. Belle looked up at him. "Good morning," she greeted, " we might need a farm to sustain ourselves. We will be staying here for a while."

Azrael nodded. "Good idea," he said, "shall I go and look for sugarcane and seeds?"  
Belle shook her head and handed him her pickaxe.

"Allow me. I want some fresh air too!" with that, she ran up excitedly up the stairs, leaving Azrael a smile on his face. He then started knocking at the rocks.

Belle hopped out of the water, equipped with her iron sword, axe, torches and fishes. She found sugarcane near the waters and cocoa beans in the jungle nearby. She was glad it was still in the early afternoon, which meant that she had more time to look for farming materials and animals. She wandered through the jungle, leaving out her torch trail behind her. She found a clearing in the jungle and rested there. She looked up ahead and her eyes lit up as she saw pigs scurrying freely in the wild flatlands. Excited, she took up her sword and ran into the plains. She was about to slay a pig when she missed her footing and fell into a small hole in the ground. She screamed in horror it went dark around her.

Azrael spent the afternoon staircasing his way down the rocks. Suddenly, he heard faint sounds of gurgling liquid. "Could it be..." he thought and smashed as hard as he could at the rocks. The rocks broke apart and massive heat rushed hard against his face. Belle was lucky at her first try- there was indeed a lava chamber here. There was no definite guarantee of diamonds, but this was a good start for them both. He ran up to craft a bucket using the iron ingots he had already obtained from smelting. He soon returned downstairs with a bucket of seawater, torches, two iron picks and some fish, ready to take on the caverns.

Belle rolled over on her back. She felt very exhausted. She sat up and opened her eyes. She was sitting on a bed in a huge room of stone. A standard survival set of a crafting table, a chest and a furnace lay near the entrance, which was sealed by an iron door. She walked around, puzzled. "Did I build a base underground?" she muttered.

"No. I carried you in here. Do you know that you weigh a whole ton?" a voice spoke, accompanied by the opening of the iron door. Belle turned around and her widened hazel eyes met the emerald ones of another male player, who sported black pants and a silver hoodie that covered his auburn hair. "JakeShake" , his username, appeared above his head.

**Hohohoho ****We ****have ****a ****new ****companion ****already. ****D**

**Thanks ****so ****much ****for ****reading****! *****bows*****  
****I ****wrote ****half ****of ****this ****story ****down ****in ****a ****notebook ****of ****my ****own ****and ****retyped ****it ****all ****out ****on ****Google ****Drive****. *****wipes ****sweat*******

**Reviews ****and ****follows ****are ****very ****much ****appreciated****. ****THANKS ****FOR ****YOUR ****SUPPORT****, ****FOLLOWERS****~ (****I ****actually ****went ****over ****the ****moon ****when ****I ****received ****email ****notifications ****that ****some ****people ****have ****started ****following ****my ****stories****. ****Keep ****them ****coming ****so ****I ****know ****that ****I****'****m ****on ****the ****right ****track****. ****Thank ****you ****once ****again****! =^^=)  
**


	4. Chapter 4: Being a bodyguard

**Phew. Another chapter is released. Thanks for following this story- it means a lot to me as a budding writer. :D :D :D**

** ShadowShinigamiWolf: Hohoho~ But I won't reveal that TOO soon, since he's quite the tsundere character. XD**

Belle looked at him, mildly surprised at the presence of another player in the world. She took a good look at him. His short, auburn hair was covered by a silver hoodie. It was complemented with his raven-black pants.

"Done staring?" the guy spoke, sounding slightly annoyed.

Belle snapped out of her trance. She did not realise that she had been staring at him for a long while. She gave a slight, timid bow and held out her hand. "Call me Belle," she said.

The man looked at her and shook her hand half-heartedly. "Name's Jake," he replied, "What are you doing here in the ravines anyway? It's dangerous, you know. I don't need a burden who cannot even take care of herself."

"Oh no he did NOT just insult me." Belle thought, giving him a pointed glare. "Fine," she said, "I'll find my way out. Just so you know, I don't need you to take care of me at all." she shuffled huffly towards the door, only to be stopped by a strong arm slamming her against the door.

"Is that any way to thank someone who rescued you from a huge pool of water, two creepers, two skeletons and one zombie while you were out cold?" he demanded angrily.

Belle narrowed her eyes at him questioningly and turned away. "Fine, thanks," she retorted, "now can I please go?" she saw a wooden button and was about to reach for it when Jake simply stopped her hand.

"Surely, you are not thinking that I'm going to let you off this easily, are you?" he asked maliciously. Belle's eyes flared with anger as her hazel eyes blazed against his emerald ones.

"What are you up to?! You say you don't need another burden and now you are not letting me leave?!" she yelled.

Jake wore his sinister grin and pinned her against the door. "I need someone to be my bodyguard when I go to explore the mineshaft that I had found before I saved you."

Belle arched an eyebrow at him.

"You want me, the very person you considered 'a burden' who 'cannot even take care of herself' , to be YOUR bodyguard? " she questioned incredulously.

Jake narrowed his eyes at her. "And your problem is...?"

A thought popped up into her mind. "So," she continued, "why do you need a bodyguard, if you are that confident that you can take care of yourself and that I'd be a burden? Don't tell me... you are too weak to take them on yourself?"

Jake pressed her arms harder against the door. Belle winced from the grip of his strong arms.

Belle glared into his emerald eyes. "I already set up camp underwater elsewhere with another player, so no. Plus, we are probably going on different missions. "

"Does it involve a search for diamonds too? " he asked with a smirk on his face.

Belle froze in surprise.

"Well now," he drawled on, "I guess our missions may not be so different after all."

"What about my partner back in the base? " she argued.

He frowned, leaning back on his heels as he plunged into thought. "Where is your base?" He questioned seriously.

Belle thought hard about how to describe her base. "Well," she finally began,"it's outside the jungle that's near the flat plains above. It's well underground."

After hearing that, Jake turned nonchalantly and started making a new set of tools. "Leave him there, " he commanded,"he will join us here in the ravines soon. It is your choice if you do wish to go back, though I must warn you that ravines are extensive and creepers lurk in every corner. Hence, I can guarantee neither your way back nor your life. No pressure, though. "

Belle flopped to the ground helplessly and sighed. Much as she'd hate to admit it, he was right. She should not go out unless she was completely sure about the place that she was in. "It's hardcore after all, " she convinced herself.

Jake walked over to her and handed her an iron pickaxe. She looked at it for a moment and took it. Jake gave her a wide smile which mildly surprised her.

"I'm glad we can have an understanding," he said, and walked outside to wait for her.

Azrael looked up into the window of the base anxiously. Belle had been out for way too long. He could not imagine what could have kept Belle outside beyond sundown. She could have been lost, and hence staying up in the trees to hopefully protect herself. Or she could be wandering around in a ravine or a cave until the sun comes back up. Or she could have… Azrael shook his head. He had been worrying far too much than necessary. He cannot believe that Belle could be dead. "No, she couldn't have," he told himself and headed back down to the lava cavern he had discovered. "Yes, I refuse to believe that she is dead." With that, he continued mining, believing that she will return to him and show him some diamonds that she would have found. Or gold. Just about anything to show that she was alive.

As a matter of fact, she was indeed alive. And breathless. Belle was running away from cave spiders that were coming after her. The mineshaft was more scary than she thought it sounded from Jake. "AH!" she yelped in pain as a cave spider bit her in the arm. Jake fought them off with his sword and quickly helped Belle into a new emergency shelter they had built near the mineshaft.

"I told you to be more careful with cave spiders, especially when you have insufficient armour on!" he scolded.

"You did not tell me that they were poisonous and I thought those were like the usual spiders up there!" she defended, then winced in pain as the poison took its painful effect on her.

Jake sighed, and handed her a bucket of milk. "Drink it," he ordered. Belle gave the milk a sip, and suddenly she did not feel the side-effects of the poison any more. She looked at her arm and watched the spider bite fade away slowly. When she finished the bucket of milk she handed it to Jake. "Milk has healing properties. That's something useful for you to remember. It's my last bucket of milk though. So you really ought to be more careful," he explained as he deposited the bucket into a chest.

"Th-thanks," she muttered softly as she stood up from the floor. Jake looked out through the small window in the iron door.

"The spiders are gone for the moment, I think. But we still ought to be more careful," Jake warned. He walked to the chest and took out a flint and an iron ingot. He walked to the crafting table and started arranging them in several positions. Finally, he managed to craft out flint and steel.

Belle looked at the item quizzically. "And you're bringing that because..?"

Jake smirked and struck at the stone floor in front of him. Belle watched the stone block burst into flames. "Using this on the wooden mineshaft pillars will kill the spiders that already live there. We still need to find the spawner, though. But it'll be easier with them gone," he explained.

Belle nodded and grabbed her sword. "I'll follow you."

Jake thought for a moment and walked in front of her. "Stay behind me," he commanded. "or else the person getting poisoned would be you."

Belle looked at him, surprised. She definitely did not expect that he would think about protecting her from the spiders.

"If you are thinking that it was to protect you, you are thinking too much into it. I want someone to watch out behind me for creepers. That's why you are here anyway, remember? Bodyguard?" he spoke coldly and walked ahead.

Belle's eyes glared at his back, almost burning a hole in his back from her glare. "You are just too incompetent to watch your own back," she muttered. Jake gave her a glare.

"I'm sorry, you said something?" he questioned icily.

Belle shook her head nervously. "Nothing," she assured.

Jake gave a shrug and turned back towards the mineshafts.

Azrael looked around in the lava cavern he explored. He was already done with turning all lava pools into obsidian. He walked around, lighting torches. Soon, the moan of a zombie was heard. He walked towards one wall and started swinging his pickaxe hard at it. Within minutes he found a small hole, which he continued to swing at. He looked up and placed some torches around. Wood. Dirt.

"I'm in a mineshaft?" he thought.

**And Azrael found a mineshaft. Now how is HE going to look around for resources in this dangerous place? What about Belle and Jake? Will they survive against the spiders?**  
**Stay tuned with me to find out!**  
**Thanks for reading this chapter~ *bows***  
**Please review, follow or favourite. I like knowing that I have done a great job with this somehow. :D :D :D THANKS AGAIN~ *bows***


	5. Chapter 5: Dark Corners

**Hey guys! Presenting the long awaited chapter 5~ ^^ *tadaa~***

**I decided to invest a little bit more time in redrafting out the chapters now, so I might take a little longer. . Buuut, the better quality of the story will make up for it.**

**Thanks for all your support thus far, readers! ^^**

Jake stepped up to where they had their first nasty encounter with the cave spiders. "Like I said before, be careful. Stay behind me." he ordered.

Belle rolled her eyes, "Yes, Mr. Bossy," she replied curtly, hiding herself behind him. Jake ignored the twitching nerve in his head and huddled against the pillars.

She tailed him to the wooden planks, which stood between three passageways- the one they came from, one on one side of the pillars and another on the other side. They stood there, waiting for the right moment while listening to the cave spiders above them scuttling their long, tiny feet around.

Jake turned to Belle. "Block off the passageway we came from for the moment," he ordered, "Later, we'll separate ways and take one of the other two corridors and block them off." Belle looked at him curiously.

"Why?"

Jake sighed with a slight hint of impatience. "Because if we don't, the cave spiders can scatter anywhere in this cave, making our adventures here very difficult and messy."

Belle finally understood and took out stacks of cobblestone. A huge wall stood where they came from. Finally, Jake took out his flint and steel. "The moment you see the pillars on fire, go to one of the two passageways and build up a wall. Stay alert for other monsters," he told her. Belle nodded and jogged towards the corridor in front of the pillars, awaiting the signal to run.

Flint and steel struck hard against the pillars.

Belle immediately jogged up to the corridor and proceeded to make a wall. Jake did the same on the other side of the pillars. The walls they had constructed proved an effective trap to contain the poisonous cave spiders. Belle could distinctly hear the burning spiders screech to their deaths. The luckier ones scurried desperately around within the walls. Belle heaved a sigh of relief. Then she faced another problem- how was she going to get out? She knew that if she made a hole in the wall, the small cave spiders would be able to sneak through. Desperate for help, she called out to Jake.

"Jake! Are you there?!" she yelled, her voice bouncing off the stony walls.

Nothing.

She slumped helplessly against the wall she built, absently listening to the spiders crawling around. Suddenly, an idea came to her and she took out a mobile crafting table she made. She laid out cobblestone in a row of three. "Ah ha! Cobblestone slabs!" She removed the slabs and proceeded to the wall. With a pickaxe, she mined a hole and quickly replaced it with a stone slab. She watched in satisfaction as a cave spider spotted her and tried to attack her in vain. She swiftly killed it with a sword. More started to gather towards her and she slayed them off easily. When she was sure that the area behind the walls was empty, she took down the wall and edged cautiously towards the other passageway.

"Jake?" she called. "Are you there?"

Again, there was no response. She slumped down to the ground, leaning her back against the cobblestone wall. "Where could he have been?" she wondered. Suddenly a thought came to her.

"What if.. he left me here in the mineshafts alone?!" she muttered nervously, "Oh, the nerve! If he did, I'm so going to go back to base and rob him of all his stuff and all…" she decided.

"You better not," a voice spoke to her from behind the wall, "or I might imprison you. No pressure plates, levers or buttons to let you out." Belle stumbled away from the wall in shock and watched Jake dismantle the cobblestone wall.

"You dare to imprison me?!" she retorted huffily. Jake gave her a smirk. Poking fun at her was getting entertaining.

"Yes, if you dare to rob my chests in the base. You are technically under my employment anyway. Now, look at what I found." he handed a book to her.

"Fire Aspect II?" she read the title and flipped the book open to read, her hazel eyes widening in awe. "Awesome! That means highly powerful fire attacks to all mobs!"

Jake nodded and took the book from her. "I'm using it for one of my iron swords. I want to slay some cows above us. Anyway, we're going back," he then paced ahead of her towards their base.

Belle followed after him, grasping the thought of using that enchanted sword on a cow. "Hmm," she pondered, "we'll get cooked steak, I guess?"

Azrael entered the mineshaft. Leaving a torch trail behind him he wandered around from pillar to pillar, from corridor to another. He wondered what these mines hafts were for. "And.. why is it abandoned?" he wondered. Finally, he entered a turn and found a chest.

"Ah ha! I'll say! Enchanted books!" he picked up one and read its cover. "Infinity I? What could that be for?" he wondered. He slipped it inside his pocket and wandered around, collecting any iron or coal that he could find. Little did he know, a certain sickly-green creature had trotted up behind him.

"Tssssss….."

An explosion broke out in the mineshaft. Jake and Belle froze in horror in their base. Belle looked around nervously. "An explosion? What could that mean?" she asked.

A thought came into Jake's head. "Follow me! We're finding that person involved!" He ran ahead, dragging Belle by the hand. Belle's face flushed momentarily and she tugged at her hand.

"Hey! I can run, you know!" she protested.

Jake glared back at her as he ran. "I'm not about to wait for you to catch up!"

"If this arm you're grabbing falls off midway, I swear I will kill you with my other one!" she yelled.

" I'll find that arm for you while you are in my prison, so just follow me!" he shot back as they turned a corner.

Azrael had managed to escape the creeper in time, taking no damage from the explosion. However, a flying arrow hit his arm and he spotted a skeleton just a few feet away in the corridor to his right. He swung his sword hard at it, killing it. Suddenly he heard rushing footsteps, an impatient male voice and a familiar, melodious one.

"Excuse me?! Your prison!? Why would I be imprisoned for losing my arm when you are grabbing it?!" the female voice debated, annoyed.

"Because you are extremely annoying for complaining that it will happen when it didn't!" the male voice rebutted. The voices grew louder and Azrael stepped out to the main passageway..

And his azure eyes met a familiar pair of hazel eyes.

"… Azrael?" Belle called out uncertainly, her eyes blinking with pure surprise.

Azrael gazed at Belle for a long while. How he had missed seeing those blonde locks of hair. He dashed past Jake and knocked Belle to the ground in a hug, instantaneously. That made Belle blush instantaneously.

Azrael finally released her and helped her up. "Sorry about that. It's just.. well.. I got a bit worried when you did not come back for a while," he cleared his throat and explained.

Belle gave him a warm smile and stood up. "I'm fine. I just fell in a hole in the plains while slaying cows and I ended up in the ravines. Apparently that guy over there saved me while I was out cold."

Jake gave her a look and walked up to Azrael, holding out a hand. "Hello. I'm Jake. I currently have a base in the underground ravines. It's quite near this place, actually. Recently I've hired a bodyguard, so we should be quite safe. But of course, I cannot say that she has been very efficient.."

Belle gave Jake a punch on the shoulder. Jake winced in pain.

"Hey! Do you really want me to imprison you for assault?!" he barked.

Suddenly, shock washed over Jake as he saw a herd of three creepers come behind Belle and Azrael. He immediately pulled the two away. He prepared his iron sword. "Run! Both of you! I'll find you guys later, so escape now!" With that, he ran back to confront one of the approaching creepers. The other two creepers started advancing towards Belle and Azrael. Belle looked ahead, then at Azrael nervously.

"We are about to be reaching a dead end! What are we going to do now?!" Belle shouted.

Azrael had a brainwave. He took Belle's arm and stopped her from running.

"Trust me on this, and do not move," he spoke softly.

Belle's anxious gaze bore straight into him. "How can I not move?! They are about to kill us in an explosion!" she protested.

Azrael patted her shoulder. "Trust me," he repeated.

The two creepers neared them. Their impending doom was nearing.

"Tsssss…."

**Aaaaaaand we have a cliff-hanger here. :D**

**Thanks for reading this chapter! Special thanks to all my followers and everyone who favourited me as an author. It feels really good to have you guys read my story. **

**This is one chapter that I feel really satisfied with. Printing it out on the go for editing and redrafting does take a lot of effort and time, but for the sake of a real good story, I will go through these lengths for it. :D**

**Do keep supporting me, and keep those reviews, follows and favourites coming in. Thank you~~ *bows***


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